Omaha daily bee., 1887-01-08
THE SOUTH CAROLINA METHOD
Light Thrown Upon the Way in Which the
Late Election Was Conducted.
NOTICE OF CONTEST FILED
A Rill introduced For tho Disposition
of Public Lands Withdrawn From
Entry and Sale-National
Capital News.
Smails Will Contest the Seat.

tElalll 10 lIlt DEE. .I--NOHETtSNllldu OlllhllS
has filed his notice of contest of the election
of Colonel Elliott, who has been given the
seat Smalls has held in congress so long.
The district was made for the purpose of con-
soldatInc the colorcd vote of South Carolina
and is composed like the notorious shoestring
district OF Mississippi, OF the counties of the
state in which the blacks outnumbcr the
whites. Until the last election no democrat
ever thought of running against Smalls in a
district where there were over 10000 black
votes, and only 1000 or 5000 whites and his
| majority has usually beeh about -, 5,OJ0 This
time. however it was determined to make
the delegation from South Carolina solidly
democratic, and from the evidence which
Smalls presented they went about it in a
mastery manner. The election commits
sioncr of the state designated only about one
third OF the usual number of voting places
and arranged them so irrcgularly through
the district that some people had to go over
thirty miles to vote. Instead of hav-
ing a ballot box in every town
there would be two in one place and
none in the next In this arrangement,
also, there was a deliberate attempt to pre-
vent the negroes voting bv appointing the
polling places in some out of the way corner
which was not sufficiently described in the
| proclamation and which the negroes could
| not find. In almost every instance differ
ent location was selected from that where
| they were accustomed to 20 to vote, and
hundreds OF negroes who had seen no notice
| OF the change gathered at the old places and
waited all day for the polls to open, many of
| them thinking that they must have made a
! mistake and come to vote on the wrong day.
| The notices had been published in papers of
limited circulation and those which the blacks
were not accustomed to read. 1t is claimed
| that not one in ten of the regular voting pop.
ulation were polled for this reason and in
| precincts where such deception could not he
| practCed even worse methods We're adopted.
| The election commissioner appointed
| two white and one colorcd Judge
III some of the precincts, but in others
the judges were all white democrats.
Where it was seen that the democratic vote
was in excess of that of the republicans the
| judges would stay at the polls and count the
| ballots. Where the blacks came out in force
and voted for Smalls the trick was for the two
| democratic judges to become suddenly i'll or
| to be sent for from their homes in great haste
or to use any other excuse to leave the polls
| in charge of the one republican Judge, which
| would of course invalidate the election, and
| the whole vote would be thrown out. In this
way the democrats managed to count the
vote tor Smalls from =, 900, as itusually is, to
| between 5000 and 1000, and to return Colonel
Elliott, the democratic candidate, by several
| hundred majority. Many of the democratic
| newspapers in South Carolina, as well as
| leading democrats, have denounced the
| frauds and demanded that the certificate
| should be given to Smalls, but Colonel Elliott
| comes from the tip top of the aristocracv and
wanted seat in congress-. 1t is not thought
that the democrats in the house will allow
| him to retain 1t, however, because of the effect
| II would have on the next presidential eec-
| ton.
| PUBLIC LANDS WITHDRAWN FROM ENTRY
Representative holmes. of Iowa, intends
| to introduce in the house pill presented by
| General RoSecranS in the last congress, pro-
vding for the disposition of public lands
| WthdraWn from entry and sale under
| authority OF law, and to determine claims
respecting them in certain cases 1t pro-
| vdes that all reserves of public lands from
| the operation of the general land laws made
| to satisfy any grant to any person. corpora
tion or state, upon fulhlment of any Speci-
| ned conditions within a fixed time which
shall not have been earned by compliance
| with such conditions within the specified
| time shall ipSo tacto revert to the public do
main and be subject TO the general land laws
| as If never reserved. In every such case of
| lapse of specified time the secretary of the
| interior shall promptly give notice thereof,
| and that such reverting lands are subject to
| the general land laws pursuant to the pro-
visions of thi act all claims to any such re-
| Vertlng lands by any such grants, or assigns,
| must be asserted in courts of competent jurS-
dlction and in every suit for this purpose,
any prc-emptor, homesteadcr or other party
| interested, shall have a right to be heard
and the United States shall be made party
| defendant, whose interests and authority
the attorney general shall thereupon defend
| until the final adjudication Of the case. The
| proposed act is to apply to all such reserves
| existing on and after its passage.
TIE PRESIDENT LOOKING WELL.
PRESIDENT Cleveland was looking very much
this afternoon than he has for weeks. He
walked steadily and showed but slightly the
| effects OF his recent Illness. An immense
throng awaited him, the city being well filled
| with visitors now. Nearly all who passed
between the attendants stopped and chatted
for few seconds, and this break in the
| monotony seemed To be rcshed by the presi-
| dent, who detained many callers and en-
| quired after personal friends. One old
| gentleman, after presenting his wife and
stating that he was from New York, per
sisted in poking the president in Il eregton of
the diaphragm while he inquired about his
| rheumatism. "lt is only question of care
and attention now" remarked the president,
and | am beginning to feel like myself
| again." reference was made to the absence
of the president from his mother-in-aw's
reception yesterday, whereupon he an
| Mrs. Cleveland"
"Oh, yes" said the old gentleman, land
| | was very glad to meet her. May be- she told
you some OF the pleasant things | said to
Apprehension on account of the presidents
| physical condition has passed.
| RANDAIL'S REVENUE REFORM SCHEME.
! Chairman Morrison announces this morn
| ing thathe will assist Randall and
his democratic and republican followers in
| their proposition to cut down the internal
| revenue, and his announcement is gleefully
received. IL is believed to insure success.
| provided the internal revenue measure can
be kept apart from any and all tariff PROPOSE
| ttOns. Randalfs scheme TO enlarge the free
| list agreed upon last night, will likely fail
because of the inability to determine what
| should be put upon the free list. Re.
publicans object because sugar is not in
| cluded.
| MILITARY MATTERS.
| Army leaves granted: Captain John II.
Calef, Second artillery, Fort Monroe, ten
DAYS extension; Lieutenant Frank b. An
| drus, Fourth infantry, Boise barracks, Idaho.
| two months, with permission to apply for
| two months extension; Lieutenant Alfred
llasbrOuck, ir, and Lieutenant Henry c.
Cabem. jr., Fourteenth infantry, Vancouver
| barracks, Wyoming territory, one month
each, with permission to apply for three
months extension; Captain James f. Simp-
son, Third cavalry, Fort Davis, Texas, six
| months sick leave.
Army orders: First Lieutenant Walter L.
| FISK and Second Lieutenant G. +. Gillette,
of the engineer corps, have been ordered 10
| a. nj hNro Nf,,f.,